1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image management apparatus and image management method for managing image data.
2. Description of the Related Art
These days, a growing number of image capturing apparatuses such as digital still cameras have a function to record image information output from an image sensor such as a CCD image sensor directly as a RAW image on a recording medium. The RAW image can be displayed as, for example, a full-color image after a so-called “development” process.
In general, the development process is done nondestructively for a RAW image using the image processing function of an external image processing apparatus or an image capturing apparatus. The external image processing apparatus is often a personal computer on which image processing software runs. A parameter set (development parameters) used in the development process can be stored in a RAW image file together with RAW image data. The user can repetitively generate developed image data from a RAW image independently of another image process without degrading the image quality.
When adjusting the image quality such as the lightness and contrast of an image based on a RAW image, the user selects development process parameters and adjusts their values such as lightness ±0 and contrast +2 by using the above-mentioned image processing apparatus. The RAW image undergoes a development process based on the adjusted parameters. Recently, image processing apparatuses (image processing software programs) capable of developing a RAW image are growing diverse. In this situation, the user generally selects an image processing apparatus he wants and performs a development process for a RAW image.
For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-60153 discloses an apparatus that improves the convenience of an image process by associating the process history of an image process executed for a RAW image at a plurality of stages with an image during the process so that the processed image can be restored to a state before the process. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-88515 also discloses an apparatus which allows a user to select different development process parameters to be applied between a case in which a plurality of RAW images undergo a development process at once and a case in which one RAW image undergoes a development process.
A case will be examined, in which a user (called an author) executes image quality adjustment as described above for a RAW image, stores development parameters used for the adjustment together with the RAW image data, and passes the file to another user (called an intended viewer). As described above, various kinds of development processing software are available lately, so the intended viewer does not always use the same development processing software as that used by the author to adjust the image quality of a RAW image. The intended viewer may perform a development process for a RAW image in a file received from the author by using development processing software different from that used by the author.
In this case, the intended viewer who is carrying out the development process may ignore development parameters used by the author to adjust the image quality of the RAW image. As a result, it becomes difficult to play back the RAW image on the intended viewer side appropriately as intended by the author.